Trump vs. Pope Frances: How Iran’s Zarif compares

Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has slammed U.S. President Donald Trump while praising Pope Francis for his “denunciation of MuslimBan” and of the Rohingya genocide going on in Myanmar.

In a series of tweets, Zarif said that the world “needs leaders who urge dialogue & compassion, not walls & exclusion.”

The Iranian minister was referring to a recent general audience in which Pope Francis made some extemporaneous remarks urging prayer for the persecuted Rohingya people, who are Muslims.

In his remarks Wednesday, Francis asked his hearers to pray in a special way for “our Rohingya brothers and sisters.”

“Driven out of Myanmar, they go from one place to another because they are unwanted,” he said.

“They are good people, peaceful people. They are not Christians, but they are good, they are our brothers and sisters. And they have been suffering for years,” Francis said. “They have been tortured, killed, simply because they follow their traditions and their Muslim faith. Let us pray for them. I invite you to pray for them to our Father in Heaven, all together, for our Rohingya brothers and sisters.”

Earlier in his address, the Pope repeated a favorite catch-phrase of his regarding the need to “create bridges rather than walls,” though the Vatican has insisted that this figurative expression refers to an attitude of openness to dialogue with others, and does not refer to specific walls or persons.

Among his recent tweets, Zarif also confirmed his support for U.S. protesters against President Trump, saying that many Iranians had also demonstrated in defiance of “threats & insults” from the U.S. government.